The Arctic Legend: The First Frost
by DrBlowhole1
Summary: <html><head></head>When young Xavier is separated from his mother in a blizzard, he meets the Snow Patrol and its ruler, Zoran. They claim they are the guardians of the ice, but he's doesn't want to believe them. Xavier must defeat the myserious Vulcan in this first book.</html>
1. Prologue: The Ice Bears

_Prologue: The Ice Bears [7:35p.m.; Blizzard: Unknown Location]_

**"A cub without a parent is like a cub without a pelt. A cub must have parenthood to live. If not, a cub must have self-control. You must learn to control this. You must learn to control yourself..."**

**-Zoran the Noble**

The young, polar cub stumbled through the raging blizzard surrounding him. He had been stuck in this blizzard for at least an hour, but he couldn't remember where he was or how he got there. One minute he was with his mother learning how to catch fish, the next he had frost all over his white, silky pelt. Had he taken a wrong turn? Where was his mother now?

"Ma?" the cub found himself repeating every five minutes. He would try to find his way out of the blizzard, but each time he tried to, the cub had been walking in circles the entire time. The blizzard seemed never ending.

The cub stopped for a minute to catch his breath. The icy blizzard was causing his lungs to breathe slower and slower. The bear felt as if he might pass out, but if he did then he could die.

The cub sniffled as green snot began to soak down his black snout and to the ground where it then became frozen solid. His mother would have whooped him if she had found out that he was letting his nose run. She would always say 'Wipe those boogers off your face, son! Don't use your pelt, find a stick or ice crystal to wipe it on! A male bear should never let his snout run; it is very impolite and will cause you to not find a beautiful, female bear.'

The bear shivered and blinked. If the blizzard didn't kill him, then the wolves surely would. If he were a strong, older bear like he had always desired, he could easily kill the White Wolves, but alas, he wasn't.

A howling echoed through out the icy blizzard. A sign of wolves, maybe? Or maybe they were coming from passing polar bears howling at the night air. Whatever the case, the cub had to try to find help, or he would be turned into a bear popsicle stick.

The cub listened for the sound. North. It had to be close. The cub rushed through the raging storm, stumbled a few times, and stopped. The howling had stopped.

Shadows of bears walked throughout the wall of ice. The cub rubbed his blue eyes. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? "Hey, wait!" he cried as he rushed at the frosty wall and broke the barrier.

The cub gasped. Instead of seeing clear, white snow, the blizzard continued to surround him. He looked around in shock. No sign of any polar bears or wolves. Maybe he was lost in a never ending storm? Maybe this was a curse for disobeying his mother a few times in the past. His mom had always told him never to disobey your parents, or bad things would happen to you. The cub was beginning to believe this.

A large wall of snow rushed at the cub, covering his pelt and causing the dripping snot to freeze to his face almost instantaneously. The cub sneezed downward, getting the snot all over his fuzzy paws. The cub's temperature was rising; he was getting a fever. If he didn't get out of here soon, then he would die from unhealthiness.

The cub fell to the ground in pain. He shriveled up like an armadillo and clutched his growling stomach. Being cold was one thing; he was starving. The cub had planned to eat fish with his mother and still hadn't eaten.

Suddenly, five, shadowy figures began to approach from the darkness of the blizzard. They had four paws, short, stubby tails, and small, fuzzy, bear ears. They were polar bears. The bears were all wearing armor, but all but one were wearing purple armor. The lead bear was wearing black armor and had a large, red scar across his right brow to the tip of his snout. All of the bears had red eyes.

The cub lifted his head in happiness and stood up on his small paws, "Thank goodness, you've come to save me! Please, I've lost my mother!"

The lead bear crept over to the cub followed by the purple-armored bears. He looked at the young one in front of him as if he could see through his soul. He said in a menacing voice, "You are a very foolish cub. We are here to kill you."

The cub gasped and began to slowly walk away from the bears. He turned his head around to run when he saw that more purple-armored bears had come up behind him and surrounded him. He was doomed. "Why? Why do you want to kill me? I thought all polar bears were supposed to be friendly!" cried the cub, almost sobbing.

"Not us, boy. Not us," said the bear. He turned his head to look at his comrades behind him, "Fighters!"

"Yes, sir?" asked the bears at the same time. They looked at their leader with anxiety.

"Grab him. Take him away to our fortress where he will be ripped limb from limb and banished of his silky pelt where it will then be given to those that need pelts!" ordered the bear.

"Yes, sir!" cried the bears. The enclosed around the cub.

The leader roared into the night air. He looked down at the cub, "Time to die, son!"

The cub screamed and tried to dove between the bear's paws. He rushed to his feet and ran for his life.

"Foolish cub! Get him!" growled the bear.

The purple bears roared and rushed off after the cub. "First one to catch him gets his heart!" growled one.

The cub screamed as he rushed across the snowy ice as the storm raged around him. He gasped as he slid to a stop at a cliff.

"No where to go now, cub!" growled the leader as he rushed at the cub.

The cub ducked. He needed a guardian angel to save him from these terrible monsters. Someone... Anyone...

Suddenly, a large golden-armored bear roared and collided with the bear in the air. It grabbed at the bear and began to claw at him.

The leader roared and pushed him to the ground, "Zoran! You shall pay for stopping us from claiming this cub as ours!"

The mysterious bear pushed the leader into the cliff and clawed at his face.

The cub gasped. What was happening around him? He glimpsed the area. Several golden-armored bears had joined the fight and were attacking the purple ones.

The leader roared and smashed the bear's head into the ice. He smacked him in the face.

The bear roared and threw a dagger at his opponent's head, but he missed. He tripped the bear with his paw.

The leader growled and stepped back. He looked at his surrounding comrades only to realize that more than half of them had been killed. "Haul back!" he roared to the bears.

The purple bears stopped fighting the golden bears and rushed off behind their master, who was already halfway across the icy storm.

The golden bear who had bravely defended the cub against the leader looked him in the eye. He had blue eyes as well. How coincidental. The bear opened his mouth, "Don't get into any more trouble, you hear? We don't like rescuing someone more than once."

"I won't. Thank you for saving me," said the cub as he wiped his snout of snot and wiped it in the snow.

The bear picked up the dagger he had tossed earlier. He wiped it clean of blood stains from other bears and placed it in his armor. "You won't get hurt where we're going," he said.

"Wait," said the cub, "Are you abducting me?"

"Let's say that we're taking you to an orphanage at Zaluna where you will be trained to fight," said the bear.

"Orphanage? I'm not an orphan! I have a mother!" exclaimed the cub.

"If your mother isn't with you, then you are classified as an orphan. Your mother is miles away from here," explained the bear.

"Then take me to her," ordered the cub.

"She's dead. At the bottom of the ocean. Drowned," said the bear.

The cub gasped. His eyes began to drip of tears, but they soon froze to his face. His mother, dead? Really? "She's... dead?"

The bear nodded. He gestured for the cub to follow, "Don't you worry. Here at the Zaluna we will supply you with everything you need. We'll make it work. Now come on, we're leaving now."

The cub wiped away his tears and began to sob within his throat. He looked at the bear's sparkling, blue eyes in a trustworthy way. He trusted this bear. After all, he had saved his life.

"Good," said the bear, "It's up North."

The golden bears behind them began to follow. They grew closer to the cub.

The cub shivered, still cold. He wished there was a wool coat around here somewhere.

As if he had read his mind, the blue-eyed bear pulled out a gray blanket from deep within his armor and placed it on the cub's back, "Here."

The cub looked up at the bear. Who was this bear? Why did he seem so familiar? "Thanks," he said.

And so the bear set off into the cold night air to exit the blizzard and head North to the mysterious place called Zaluna where the cub would become an orphan.


	2. Chapter 1: The Snow Patrol

_Chapter 1: The Snow Patrol [6:37a.m.; Arctic Ice Cap: On The Way to Zaluna]_

**"We are the guardians of the ice, the Lord's soldiers, the protectors of the innocents. We will fight until the world's end for all that is worth fighting for. We are the Snow Patrol!"**

**-Zoran the Noble**

Xavier had been traveling with these strange bears for hours in search of the mysterious Zaluna, but they had found nothing. All night they had trekked, too. The bears had only allowed him to sleep for ten minutes, then they had to set off again. Xavier still couldn't let go of his mother's death. He had wondered about his attackers with the purple armor. Even more, he wondered who the black-armored bear was. Why did he want to kill him?

Meanwhile, the blue-eyed bear had found something strange. He was eying the snow as if something was lurking within its frozen depths. He hadn't taken his eyes off of the ice, and he had caused all of his bears to grow impatient. Only a few had said something; the rest had kept their mouth shut.

Xavier couldn't take it anymore. He had so many questions on his mind like: Who are you? Why have we stopped? What are you staring at? The questions raged through him until he finally said in a small voice, "Excuse me, but why have we stopped walking?"

The bear's ears twitched and he twisted his head to look at the cub in front of him. He opened his black lips, "The ice is melting."

Xavier fluttered his eyes and stretched his shoulders. Was this bear a lunatic? Of course the ice was melting! Hadn't he heard of global warming? "What do you mean? The ice has been melting for a long time because of global warming," he said.

"The ice is melting. The power is in the ice. Our lives our in the ice. Everything is in the ice. If the ice melts, we will all be doomed, even the humans who started this mess," explained the bear.

Xavier was puzzled, "What? What do you mean? Are you saying that all life came from the Arctic?"

The bear looked him in the eye, "You are correct. All life begins in the ice. But that is not the only reason why I am upset. The Black Bears have always been stopped from entering our land by this ice. If it melts, they will all invaded our land and kill us all."

"What are you talking about? Who are the Black Bears? Who are you?" shrieked Xavier. This was getting way too out of hand for him.

"Come," said the bear as he walked over to an ice ridge high above the crashing waves below. He sat down on his paws.

Xavier shook his head and began to approach the strange bear in front of him. He refused to sit down. What if this bear was tricking him? What if it was planning to shove him off the ridge and leave him there?

"My name... is Zoran the Noble. I am the ruler of the Snow Patrol; the rescuers of the innocents. The destroyers of evil. For many millenniums, we have guarded this icy world from all darkness that wishes to destroy it. Thus the Black Bears came," explained the bear, "Are you getting all of this, or am I going to fast for you?"

Xavier shook his head, "No, you're fine. Who are the Black Bears?"

"Good. Now the Black Bears are the evil polar bears who wish to destroy every living creature on this planet we call our home. They have been around since the beginning of time, but they have been held back because of the ice. Their ruler is a bear named Vulcan who has been scarred by yours truly," continued Zoran.

"But why me? He must have some connection to me?" wondered Xavier.

"Not that I know of. I just know that I have to protect you. I am your guardian for now, and I will protect you for eternity," replied Zoran, "Once at Zaluna, you will be trained to become a fighting bear yourself by the Great Masters of the Ice."

Xavier nodded, "Okay, I will try to be the best bear you will ever meet."

"Good. Now let's go back; my bears are waiting," ordered Zoran. With one swish of his paw, he was already down the slope of ice towards the golden bears below him.

Xavier ran after Zoran. He still didn't understand all that he had been told, but he knew just enough to be able to fit in at Zaluna.

"We must set off," said Zoran in an ancient voice to his comrades. He walked past the melting ice and into the snowy horizon as the bears followed him.

Xavier charged up to Zoran and began to walk with pride next to him. He looked back at the bear behind him, who seemed to have an angry look on his face. Xavier pulled back to talk to the bear, "What's wrong?"

"You would know, Seeker!" growled the bear as he rushed past Xavier to walk directly behind his master.

Xavier gave him a puzzled look. Seeker? What did that mean? Boy did this bear have an attitude! Whatever the case, there was still a strange, exciting, and suspenseful journey ahead of him.

Zoran continued to walk on into the icy wilderness looking up at the stars. He said so quietly that no one could hear him, "I know you will be the one, Xavier. I know it." Then he swept into the darkened ice cap as if he had never been there at all.


	3. Chapter 2: Reaching Zaluna

_Chapter 2: Reaching Zaluna [2:25p.m.; Zaluna's Outer Border]_

**"This is Zaluna! Here at Zaluna, we will learn to control our emotions, our mind, and our abilities. No bear gets left behind at Zaluna, and no bear is stronger than the other. This is the law of the Snow Patrol."**

**-Kavalar the Teacher**

Xavier sat down for a few moments. He clutched at his bruised paws and began to rub them. He had been walking all day. "Zoran, are we almost there?"

"It is near, cub. We are near to it, but it will take time, it will. Patients is one of our trusted allies, and we must use it when we must," said Zoran, not taking his eyes off the path. He seemed to be slow and steady with this trip of his. He did not show any haste.

"How close, though? I don't see it anywhere!" exclaimed Xavier as stood back up and waddled back and forth on his aching paws.

"It is near," that was all the bear said. He seemed to not want to answer anymore questions concerning their trip. He looked up at the sky and said, "The stars will lead us there. It is very near."

Xavier was dumbfounded. He didn't understand what this bear was talking about. Maybe he was just some hobo hitchhiker trying to abduct an innocent bear. Perhaps they were all phonies. "The stars?"

"Have you ever heard of the North Star, cub?" asked Zoran, this time looking at him.

"Yeah," replied Xavier. He had heard of the North Star a bazillion times. "Explorers use it to help them navigate the seas, right?"

Zoran nodded, "Think of it as our guide to Zaluna. They tell me where we are to go. I don't ask questions and neither will you. Do you understand?"

Xavier nodded, "No questions. Got it." He looked back and saw that the bear from earlier had come up behind him again. He pulled back to talk to him. "What was all that about earlier?"

"Leave my dad alone! He's my dad, not yours," hissed the bear.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know Zoran was your father. After all, I don't have a father," replied Xavier.

"You should be sorry. Now, back off!" growled the bear.

Xavier mouthed, "Okay." He turned his gaze back to Zoran and stepped back from him a little bit. Was this bear really Zoran's son?

-  
>Zoran stopped. He tipped his snout to the air. The stars had started to shine brightly. He knew this meant Zaluna was near. "Attention!"<p>

Suddenly, all of the bears stopped where they were and lined up in a single-file line including the ruler's son. He glared at Xavier, who hadn't gotten in line.

"Oh," muttered Xavier as he stepped back and positioned himself in between a large bear with a gruesome look on his face and a medium-sized bear just about few inches taller than him.

"Men, we are approaching Zaluna. I am inspecting all of you to make sure we don't have a spy among us!" explained Zoran as he walked over to the far end of the line on Xavier's right. He looked at a bear with a goofy grin on his face. "Knock that grin off your face, soldier!"

Zoran moved to the next bear and nodded his head, "Fine here." Bear after bear he went until he approached the medium-sized bear. "Lortan, son of Lorn, you are a very nice bear. Good for your age. You are fine."

The angry bear from earlier rolled his eyes and blew a puff of white, frozen air into the sky.

Zoran stepped in front of Xavier. He looked into his blue eyes and opened his black, pursed lips, "Young cub, the Xavier. Son of Marcella. A very brave cub for the day I've known him. You have pleased me. You have a bright future ahead of you."

Xavier grinned shyly. He wanted to ask him 'How do you know my name?', but he remembered what Zoran had commanded him not to do: Ask questions.

Zoran moved to the scary looking bear to the left of Xavier. "Core, son of Corono. A very powerful bear, the best fighting bear I've ever seen. Very good.

Core tipped his snout. In a low, monotone voice, he said, "Thank you, sir."

Zoran continued down the line and stopped at the bear that had argued with Xavier. He looked at him and said, "Zorah, my dear and beloved son. What a marvelous bear you are. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, father," said Zorah as if he were boasting. He looked at Xavier stuck out his tongue.

Xavier looked away.

Zoran finished talking to the last bear. He stood at the front of the line, "We are good. March!"

All together, the bears marched down the icy wasteland towards an open area.

"Here we are," said Zoran, mostly to Xavier.

Xavier gasped. Nothing was there. Was Zoran blind? He was about to say something when Zoran stepped into the area and an invisible force appeared. He walked on and disappeared into it.

The bears followed behind there master as well as Zorah. Xavier was astonished. How had the Snow Patrol learned to make their hideaway invisible? Whatever the case, Xavier shook his head, stepped through, and immediately found himself in the most beautiful place he had ever seen.


End file.
